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Remember Who You Are

When Queen Elizabeth was a little girl an artist came to the Royal Palace to paint a formal portrait. Posing took an incredible amount of time and it was not easy for Elizabeth to be still. As she grew weary of the endeavor she started making faces, slouching, pulling her dress up over her head–behaving anything but like a little lady. Her mother was mortified and finally, in a moment of exasperation pulled her daughter over to a corner in the room and very calmly said to her, “Elizabeth, my dear, remember Who You Are.”

This week our children’s service will focus on the story of Noah and the Ark. Noah was the only one in his generation favored by God. He was the Man With The Plan. His job was to save the world. But it wasn’t his plan, it was God’s. The Bible tells us that God has a plan for EACH ONE of us. And as Christians, they are plans for good and not for disaster. This is so that God can instill in us a longing for a brighter future and the assurance of hope that God’s plan for us is nothing short of perfect. (paraphrasing Jeremiah 29:11) The perfect plan requires obedience. It’s when we try to “improve on the plan” or take short cuts, dismissing God’s will, that can bring about severe consequences.

Guiding our children to have Christ-like character and to exhibit Christian behavior is challenging. Sometimes as parents, our children can try us with questions of “Why do I have to ___________?” Or “What’s the point of _________, it doesn’t matter anyway,” or my favorite: “__________ gets to do ________, why can’t I?” At times like these it is appropriate to remind children that God has a plan for them and that obedience is part of that reward. In short, you can simply say, “Remember Who You Are.”